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Animals of Grace – Brambles

We are living in a particularly rough and turbulent time right now, so we certainly need the hopeful sound that can be heard on Animals of Grace’s Brambles.

Comprised of guitarist and singer Erika Lundahl and percussionist Doug Indrick, Animals of Grace play gorgeously written songs that are pure as nature with glossy harmonies and elegant melodies. Backed perfectly by Indrick’s own soothing vocal and sensitive use of percussion along with the occasional expressive violin (played by the skilled Julie Radmilla Cuic), Lundahl’s impressively strong and talented vocals take on both an elegiac and a tender quality. This quality helps to push Lundahl’s heartfelt, often political lyrics through several layers of the listener to reach their soul. Each song here is filled with a genuine passion and charged with an optimism and courage that is a bit rare in today’s music.

Every song on Brambles is a highlight but if push came to shove, I would choose the beautiful opener, “Bartered Time.” The song is serene and slightly lonesome at times, feeling like the musical equivalent to waking to an early, damp autumn morning in a chilly remote cabin. Under the comforting instrumentation, poignant and powerful imagery flourishes in the track’s lyrics like, “a beautiful woman painting a picture of a wilting rose, the flower struggles to hold her pose.” It’s a perfect example of a good opening song, as it grabs your attention immediately, sets the tone of the release and introduces you to the group’s sound.

If you enjoy the evocative alternative folk sound of musicians like Anais Mitchell, Mariee Sioux and Gregory Alan Isakov, Animals of Grace should certainly be on your radar this fall.

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Record Crates United

Keith Hadad, the creator and manager of RCU, has been a contributing writer to Elmore Magazine and Thewaster.com and maintains a regular column, “Keith Hadad’s Choice,” in Blicker magazine. His writing has also appeared in the Smithsonian Folkways' Guest Blog and the Optical Sounds Fanzine.
Also, please check out the blog's super-active Instagram account, @recordcratesunited for daily blurb-styled music reviews.
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